A staffer at a Long Island sleep disorder center allegedly installed multiple hidden cameras in bathrooms and showers and may have recorded hundreds of patients and employees in their most intimate moments, according to court records.
The staffer, Sanjai Syamaprased, is now facing a criminal case in Nassau County, an investigation by authorities in Manhattan and a class action lawsuit filed by a former employee of the sleep center who alleges she was secretly taped.
Syamaprasad, who worked at the Northwell Health sleep center in Great Neck, was arrested April 25 at his Brooklyn home by Nassau police after he admitted tossing a camera concealed in a smoke detector in the trash to hide his scheme, court records show.
The criminal complaint alleges Syamaprasad, 47, installed the devices in several patient and employee bathrooms there and at a rehab center in Manhasset, also run by Northwell.
The following day, he was barred from Weill Cornell’s sleep center on E. 61st St. near York Ave. on the Upper East Side, a copy of a security bulletin shows. “If he does attempt to enter the building, please call me immediately and shut down any elevator he is attempting to use,” wrote Kim Canzani, a Weill Cornell official.
Emily Tuttle, a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, confirmed the office is also investigating Syamaprasad.
On Oct. 30, Brenda Pelletieri, a former employee at the Great Neck sleep center, sued Northwell, one of the state’s largest health care networks, claiming it failed to prevent Syamaprasad from conducting his sick project.
“I believe we were all videotaped by his guy. He had video cameras in every bathroom in the sleep lab,” Pelletieri told The News. “My biggest concern is where are the videos [he recorded] and who saw them. I am just devastated. It’s so incredibly violating.”
Pelletieri said Syamaprasad was an unremarkable colleague at the sleep center. State Education Department records show he initially obtained his sleep technician’s license in 2016.
On April 24, a co-worker spotted Syamaprasad watching a video of a person in a bathroom on his work computer and reported it to security, the complaint states. A Northwell security officer determined the video was recorded through a camera hidden in a smoke detector attached to the ceiling of the bathroom.
A video obtained by The News shows three round velcro tabs Syamaprasad allegedly used to attach the hidden cameras to a wall and a ceiling in one of the bathrooms.
Nassau cops then served a search warrant at Syamaprasad’s Marine Park home. During the raid, he allegedly pointed at his laptop sitting on his dining room table and said, “That’s where I downloaded it,” the complaint states.
“I threw out the smoke detector in a garbage can at a CVS on Avenue U. I broke up a small CD card and threw it in the same garbage pail,” he told cops.
Syamaprasad was arraigned May 10 in Nassau County court on charges of unlawful surveillance and tampering with evidence, but the investigation is continuing, said Nicole Turso, a spokeswoman for the Nassau County District Attorney’s office.
His lawyer Julie Rendelman declined comment.
“This case highlights a shocking and invasive breach of trust,” said Pelletieri’s lawyer Joel Rubenstein, of German Rubenstein. “Patients should never have to worry about their privacy being compromised while seeking medical care.
Pelletieri, a 54-year-old mom with two adult sons, said while Northwell officials held a staff-wide meeting after the arrest, there was no follow-up.
“That was the last and only time we heard about it,” she said. “No one was able to assure us that he hadn’t preserved the video.”
Pelletieri now works at a different sleep center not affiliated with Northwell.
Northwell spokesman Joseph Kemp said the hospital chain is fully cooperating with Nassau authorities. He declined to comment on the lawsuit.
“Northwell took swift action when it learned of its former employee’s deeply disturbing misconduct, including promptly reporting the matter to law enforcement and terminating that employee,” Kemp said. “Northwell does not tolerate privacy violations or illegal activity of any kind.”
Sarah Smith, a spokeswoman for Weill Cornell Medicine, said Syamaprasad was barred after the hospital “became aware of alleged suspicious behavior by a former part-time employee” in April.
She said the hospital contacted authorities and has been conducting an investigation.
“Currently, we are not aware of any patients or employees who have been impacted by the former employee’s alleged conduct,” Smith said.
